Hard to depose Barthez as the king of faux pas

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Valencia captain David Albelda celebrates with the UEFA cup.Photo:Getty Images

It was supposed to be Fabien Barthez's return to glory.

Instead, the former Manchester United goalkeeper, who helped France win the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship, became the scapegoat as Valencia beat Marseille 2-0 in the UEFA Cup final.

The 32-year-old keeper caused the penalty that gave Valencia the lead before the half-time whistle and was sent off in the process.

Vicente Rodriguez converted from the spot in first-half injury time.

"The red card changed the match," Marseille coach Jose Anigo said, adding he thought the call was a bit tough. "Sometimes in similar situations, you only have a yellow card."

The France goalkeeper said he had no choice but to bring down Vicente, who elegantly broke through Marseille's defence on a cross from Curro Torres.

The crowd roared as Miguel Angel "Mista" Ferrer went down and referee Pierluigi Collina flashed the red card to Barthez.

"From the bench, I expected a penalty and a red card because it was a very clear goal-scoring opportunity," Valencia coach Rafael Benitez said.

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"It was such a clear chance that it deserved the punishment that it got."

Jeremy Gavanon, who replaced Barthez, had no chance on the penalty, diving left as Vicente rolled the ball inside the right post.

Marseille did not threaten the Spanish champion in the second half, and went down by another goal as Mista scored on a cross from Vicente, giving Valencia its first European trophy in 24 years.

Earlier, Barthez had made a spectacular fingertip save on David Albelda's shot and looked confident between the posts.

After strong performances throughout Marseille's UEFA Cup campaign against Liverpool, Inter Milan and Newcastle, Barthez could have hoped for a better end to the season.

He joined Marseille in January after Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson dropped him from the first team after a string of big-game blunders.

- Thailand is pressing for a bigger say in the running of English Premier League soccer club Liverpool, including more seats on the board, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his chief negotiator said yesterday.

The level of Thai influence in the club's affairs has become a sticking point in negotiations over Thaksin's $162.5 million bid for a 30 per cent stake in Liverpool.

Thai newspapers have reported that the two sides are haggling over seats on the board, with the Thais demanding two seats and Liverpool offering one.